DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They provided an unforgettable Kenyan safari experience.
Review of My Kenyan Safari Adventure
From start to finish, my safari experience in Kenya was nothing short of remarkable. The operator was transparent and ensured good communication throughout, which immediately set a positive tone for the adventure ahead.
We set out from Nairobi promptly at 8 am, and even though it was a long 6-hour drive to the Maasai Mara, the anticipation kept my spirits high. Despite heavy rain that afternoon, our first game drive at 16:20 was incredibly rewarding. To my amazement, within just a few hours, we encountered elephants, giraffes, baboons, and zebras in their natural habitats.
Day two was an absolute treat! We embarked on a full day of game driving, and the variety and number of animals we spotted felt surreal. It's one thing to see these majestic creatures on screen and entirely another to witness them up close in the wild.
Our journey on the third day was a reflective drive back to Nairobi, reminiscing about the captivating sights of the previous days.
A significant highlight of this safari was undoubtedly our driver and guide, Alex. Thanks to him and some luck we were able to spot the 'Big Five' – a dream for many safari-goers. Alex didn't just point out the animals; he enriched the experience by sharing fascinating facts and answering myriad questions about each species, making the safari both fun and educational.
Accommodations at the Lenchada Tourist Camp were basic, aligning with its description. While it's not a luxury stay, it perfectly served its purpose by providing a comfortable resting place after exhaustive game drives, keeping the authentic feel of the safari intact.
In summary, this safari was an unforgettable adventure, blending the wild beauty of Kenya with impeccable service and expertise. Highly recommended for anyone seeking an authentic African wildlife experience.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The right choice for a beautiful experience
We choose a 6 days safari in Kenya as honeymoon and it was beautiful. Our (excellent) driver Johnny guided our group through Masai Mara, Nokuru and Amboseli Parks to let us see zebras, monkeys, crocodiles, hyppos, all the Big 5 and more! The planning was perfect, we could enjoy this beautiful experience in safety, taking a lot of pictures. It was a pleasure live all this with Johnny, taking care of us. Highly recommended!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent tour guide
I really enjoyed the 1 day trip to Marunga area, near Kilimanjaro. The tour guides were really well known to the area. I learned and experienced a lot in just one day: about natural medicine in the rain forrest, the war between two tribes 200 years ago and the process of making your own coffee from scratch was really good fun. Especially with the catchy song that went along. The lush environment is Just stunning. I can recommand to do this tour.
Excellent
From the moment we arrived in Uganda our guide Julius did his utmost to see to it that we experienced the most from his country. We were briefed at every stage about what was going to happen, what to wear and bring for the differing weather conditions and fabulous trips we enjoyed. OMG from Murchison falls to the gorillas of Bwindi. This tour surpassed our expectations. It certainly has been the most memorable holiday of a lifetime. Such lush vegetation and happy people always smiling and waving as we passed by in our sturdy jeep. Our lodges were a mix of eco to relaxing. All in beautiful settings where we could see unusual birds and animals. Julius and Guillieme made a great team always clean and smart. Excellent English and knowledge on the animals, birds and their environments. They answered any question we asked about their country. We had a go at cutting tea, planting vanilla and grinding coffee in the traditional manner. Tasting banana gin from the hilarious Mr Banana man and the incredible crafters weaving grasses. They always seemed to know when it was time for a toilet stop, (much appreciated). Accommodation was always clean comfortable and some even offered free laundry. Food always good. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get so close to Rhinos, Chimpanzees and best of all those peaceful gentle giants the Gorillas in their own environments. From waving us off at the airplane to making sure we were assisted when we arrived at Entebbe for an extra excursion if we wanted it can’t thank Julius and Guillieme enough. They always carried our bags and went the extra mile to make our tour the holiday of a life time. Thankyou Speke and especially Julius and Guillieme. Xxxx
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
7 day safari tour with chaotic organization and downgrades
We did a seven day safari tour organized by African Polecat including Tarangire NP, 3 days Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Crater, Biking to Lake Manyara and a cultural tour and finally a walking tour at Arusha NP.
First of all, doing such a safari tour is an amazing experience and we can really recommend it - just not by this operator.
We specifically chose this tour because accomodation-wise it offered a nice combination of 3 nights of sleeping in tents in the nature (with animal encounters right in front of the tents!) and then really nice locations at the start and end, namely 2* the jungle pearl resort and 1* karibu heritage.
Starting the first day, we were told, that there would be a change in plan, with Arusha NP at the first day, rather than the last day- which was fine to us at the moment, but then after a very nice safari day we were dropped off at a cheap Hotel in Arusha that was not even on the travel list, costs less than half as much and is badly rated on google maps and booking (3/10!!). A place we never would have chosen or booked ourself. The next day we were mixed with another group and picked up by another driver and guide. We thought we would continue with the initial guide - which was no problem per se - but sad because this way we didnt had the chance to tip the initial tour guide which did a spectacular job explaining all the animal encounters. With the new - suddenly scrambled together - group, the journey continued but we ended up at different accomodations than booked.
After Tarangire we were driven to kizumba camp site instead of jungle pearl (also not as nicely rated, rather basic in comparison). We texted James (the organizer) why this was the case and he said he forgot to remind the driver.
On day 6, we had only a short day at Ngorongoro crater, because the rest of the group and the driver would go on to Arusha for the afternoon, which was not on our plan anymore. So we were dropped off along the way at jungle resort (even then the driver didnt get the right instructions for us; we basically had to make sure to arrive at the right place; even the location didn’t know of our supposed arrival). Any way we lost half a tour day because apparently we were mixed with another group which had a different tour plan.
The last day at manyara lake we were a little bit worried to not reach the planned arrival at the airport in the evening with all the organizational problems. When texting James he ensured us that a driver will pick us up and everything is arranged. When sitting in the final taxi, we thought that now nothing could surprise us anymore, when suddenly the taxi would drive to a place in Arusha and drop us off there, instead of at the airport. After waiting there for 20 minutes a second taxi drove us to the airport. Again without previous communication.
It is indeed a very weird feeling, when you are in a foreign country and half the time you enter a vehicle, you get dropped-off at a random place that was not communicated or agreed on.
Minor inconveniences: no binoculars as advertised, no beverages or alcoholic drinks as advertised, no 3l water a day as advertised, no hot shower water as advertised, no toilet paper (we thought to really expect those things would be a stretch, given the nature of the safari, but still…).
Erika the cook and Amos the guide were lovely and I don‘t feel like they are at fault for any of these problems. It very much felt like a lack of communication and providing organization and information.
A safari tour is very much recommended and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I cannot recommend Polecat as operator.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Brilliant Safari - Saw All Big Five - Best Guide And Company
This was the best Safari ever. We managed to see all the Big Five. Godlove is a fantastic guide. I would recommend everyone to request him as a guide. Because of him we were lucky to see so many animals including the big 5.He is humorous and brilliant Safari Guide. He has amazing vision and can see animals we don't even notice. He is very experienced and a brilliant driver. Our 6 day safari was brilliantly organised by Petro and communication great. We did Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Lake Manyara in six days. We managed to see all the big five close up and were very lucky. All of this was thanks to GodLove who is a brilliant guide and is very experienced. Safari360 is a small reputable company which is why I would book with them. It is better to book with small company who have good experienced drivers and can look after you rather than big companies. All the accommodation and staff were brilliant also. I would definetely book with Safari360 again. This is one of the best things I have ever done in my life and it is all thanks to God love and Safari 360.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professionalism, efficiency, care and attention
The trip was private and organized based on our interests.
Communications with the tour operator, Motto Tours, has been very easy and immediate. The organization was perfect.
Our wonderful driver-guide, great professional, great knowledge of the country and better person.
Good value for money.
The trip exceeded my expectations and I definitely recommend it.
The tour operator and its professionals were wonderful.
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experienced and reliable
Jocky Tours is experienced in safari tours and everything when ahead successfully due to great planning. Will definitely book my next safari tour with them!
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great and reliable
Did a day hike on Mt Kilimanjaro and my guide Joy was great. Everything went ahead successfully and punctually. Appreciate the amazing experience from Alpine Chat. Will book my next tour with them
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great communication, outstanding guide, and good logistics delivered the trip of the lifetime.
I have always dreamed of traveling to East Africa to witness the Great Migration. I started planning this trip for Summer of 2018. Business interfered so I replanned it for summer of 2020. Pandemic interfered and I went through the whole process again for this year.
Each year I did the same thing. I read months and months of the TripAdvisor forum messages to collect the names of recommended outfitters. I selected 10 that were commonly advised and wrote them asking for quotes on a 15-day safari. Of those 10, I selected the top three most responsive outfitters and started corresponding with them in earnest. Each time I did this exercise, Easy Travel was in the top three.
In the end, I chose Easy Travel because they had the best combination of price and a high level of communication. I started corresponding in earnest with Easy Travel seven months before our vacation began and they responded with detailed itineraries and answers to all of my questions and modifications as I requested them. They responded so fast that I felt somewhat guilty sending a question on a weekend night, knowing that I’d get a detailed response by the morning.
In the end, Easy Travel arranged our entire northern circuit safari, which went flawlessly. We arrived and departed from Arusha, staying at the Kino Palace Hotel. We stayed mostly at Tortilis tented camps, which were excellent “comfort plus” accommodations. I believe the Tortilis camps may be owned by Easy Travel. (You can see my Tortilis reviews by searching.)
I would say that we made two stumbles in accommodation: staying a night at Lake Manyara and staying at a tented camp on the rim at Ngorongoro. Lake Manyara is the second oldest National Park, but the shore has been drastically altered in recent years by the rains, and the amount of open areas in which you can more easily view wildlife has been greatly reduced. The wooded portion of Lake Manyara is beautiful and there were plenty of tracks indicating all types of wildlife, but you can only see 5-10 meters off the road, and that’s inevitably going to limit your chances. It was once famous for its abundant flamingoes, and while there are still some, the changes in the shoreline have apparently ended the large numbers.
Staying on the rim of Ngorongoro was something I pushed for, but was a mistake. You can find my review of Pakulala “Luxury” Tented Camps elsewhere, but basically it was just too cold and too spare.
Beyond that, the trip was so far beyond my expectations that words fail. I took my expectations and tempered them because, of course, you take what Nature gives you. But the reality was so, *so* much more that I still can’t get over, despite 8000+ pieces of photographic evidence. We saw thousands of elephants and buffalo, scores of lions, 8 leopards, and 4 rhinos (including a mother and calf). We saw the “Big 5” *in between* the gate to the Central Serengeti and camp! We saw a cheetah hunt and kill gazelle, a lion pack bring down a water buffalo, and a crocodile take a wildebeest crossing the Mara River.
The main determinant of the quality of your safari is your driver/guide. We adored our highly competent, very friendly, and funny guide Omari. He was very experienced and seemed to be a resource for other guides. That was nice to see because being hooked into the network of guides is a crucial part of finding out what is going on at the various hotspots around the various camps.
Omari had fantastic eyes and continually surprised us by pointing out some distant object that we'd have to use binoculars to resolve. We'd then approach and Omari was great about positioning the vehicle so that we had the best view while staying at a respectful distance from the animals. We were upset to see some other operators causing interference, causing the animals' behavior to change, but I think we avoided that, while having some amazing close encounters (see photos of elephants grazing out vehicle, lions a few feet away, etc.).
Omari was always quietly taking care of us. He was not overly demonstrative like some guides but he always knew what was going on and how to make the most of the day.
The second most important thing to the quality of your safari is certainly going to be the tented camps in which you stay, and for us, as I said, the Tortilis Camps and the others we stayed at were of high quality (see my reviews on TripAdvisor elsewhere).
The third most important thing to your safari experience is the quality of your vehicle. I can't tell you how many breakdowns we witnessed over the course of two weeks but it must have been in the dozens. Easy Travel and Omari maintained our vehicle in top condition and was even in a position to help out a few other folks in trouble. I was confident that even in the face of minor breakdowns, Omari would have known what to do (and was in radio and cellphone touch with others, so I’m sure aide would have arrived reasonably).
The vehicle itself was great for the two of us, would have been great for three, and Omari said that even four was a good number. There are three rows of two seats, so my wife and I mostly took a row to ourselves so that we had the easiest side-to-side vantages. The roof pops up, which was important for photo angles and general visibility, but also provided quite good shade and could be lowered in wooded areas where tsetse were more common or on the main (but still unpaved) roads, where there was a lot of dust. We saw quite a few different types of vehicle and were very happy not to be in some of the alternatives.
The chairs were comfortable enough but not luxurious and the amount of time you spend in the vehicle was *very* significant, often 10 hours or more per day. I have to say that I thought the way it worked was: early AM game drive, back to camp, late afternoon game drive. I literally thought I’d be taking a nap in the afternoons. Not at all. Because the camps aren’t set up right beside the hot spots, you need to range to have the best chance of seeing great stuff. If you were to do out-and-backs twice a day, you’d be throwing away hours of the day and limiting your locations.
Instead, you had long days in the vehicle: breakfast around 6AM, a box lunch brought in the vehicle and generally eaten at a designated rest area with some other vehicles around, and then back at the camp anytime from 5 to 7 o’clock. And when I say you’re in the vehicle, I mean you’re *in* the vehicle. We went on two “walking safaris” in Arusha National Park and in Lake Manyara and, other than those 2-3 hours, everything we saw was from inside the vehicle.
A final thing worth mentioning is that I had a very non-serious intestinal thing that had me skip a dinner and everyone — Omari, the Tortilis camp staff, and Masuma from Easy Travel’s office in Arusha — bent over backwards to find out how I was doing and if I needed anything. I didn’t, but it was comforting that they all took it seriously.
